Tag: Tulalip

Plenty of opportunities for local anglers

By Wayne Kruse, The Herald

If you’re a sport fisherman, these are the good ol’ days. A record number of fall chinook are wending their way up the Columbia, providing catches of one to two chinook per rod at the mouths of the Cowlitz and Lewis rivers the past several weeks. Some 900,000 coho are due in Puget Sound, and are taking up the slack left by a big pink run. So many razor clams are available on the ocean beaches that state officials have decided to start the fall digging season early.

And on and on. If you don’t want to get bit by a fish, stay away from the water.

State Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist Joe Hymer, at the agency’s Vancouver office, said last week marked the largest fall chinook count (and still counting) since Bonneville Dam was built in 1938. The old record was a run of 611,000 fish in 2003, and this one is predicted to be somewhere in the 800,000-fish range.

Many of these big kings are “upriver brights,” headed for the Hanford Reach, and should be the basis for a gunnysack fall fishery in the area of the Vernita Bridge, upriver from the Tri-Cities.

Creel checks on the Reach last week showed 762 boat anglers with 244 adult and 132 jack chinook, but that success rate will improve rapidly.

Farther downriver, below the mouth of the Lewis, anglers made 5,654 trips on Sept. 6, 7 and 8, and nailed 5,351 kings for a success rate of 0.95 fish per rod. That’s unheard-of fishing on the lower Columbia.

On the local front, the annual derby for the blind was held Monday, and results bode well for this weekend’s big Everett Coho Derby. Jim Brauch, avid angler and an Everett Steelhead and Salmon Club member, hosted a derby participant Monday and limited out in Brown’s Bay on silvers of 5 to 8 pounds. He said 55 feet was the magic depth, and an Ace High fly the top lure.

“Other fish were caught throughout the system,” Brauch said. “The big fish contest was won by a nice 15-plus-pounder from the east side of Possession. (There’s) lots of fish from Mukilteo to the shipwreck and on the west side of Possession. I don’t know how many fish were caught, but all blind participants had at least one fish and most had more than one.”

Brauch said he also talked to anglers at Douglas Bar on the Snohomish River on Sunday. They reported coho as far up as the Highway 522 bridge.

Mike Chamberlain at Ted’s Sport Center in Lynnwood said there seems to be good numbers of silvers in the area, and that the derby should draw well. He said the fish are moving, not schooled up particularly, and that fishermen should cover a lot of water.

“Coho are where you find them, and hanging around all the rest of the boats can be counter-productive,” he said.

Chamberlain likes the Grand Slam Bucktail in green, and the Ace High fly in either chartreuse or green spatterback, or purple haze, behind a green or white glow flasher. The “Mountain Dew” series of Hot Spot flashers also are fish catchers, he said. Rig the flies 32 or 36 inches behind the flasher, and add a small herring strip.

There will be two free fishing seminars prior to the Everett Derby. The first is tonight — from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. — at the Tulalip Cabela’s Conference Center, where Ryan Bigley of Soundbite Sportfishing will share tips and tactics for advanced coho fishing in Puget Sound. Space is limited; RSVP by calling 360-474-4880.

The second seminar is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday and features John Martinis of John’s Sporting Goods in Everett, with everything you need to know to fish the coho derby. The venue is Everett Bayside Marine. For more information, call Bayside at 425-252-3088.

In a first for this area, the Sportsman Channel and Comcast are teaming up with the Everett Derby to donate fish caught by participating anglers to help those less fortunate. The event is part of the Sportsman Channel’s Hunt.Fish.Feed. outreach program that taps an underutilized food source of game meat and fish donated by sportsmen to feed those struggling with hunger across the country.

Participating anglers from the Everett derby are expected to donate more than 1,000 pounds of fresh fish to the Volunteers of America food bank in north Everett.

Lots of clams

State shellfish managers are practically begging diggers to take razor clams off their hands, as the fall season arrives.

“We have a huge number of clams available for harvest this season, paricularly at Twin Harbors,” said Dan Ayres, the state’s coastal razor clam honcho. “There are only so many good clamming tides during the year, and we decided there was no time to waste in getting started.”

Ayres said that while the fall digging schedule is still being developed, managers saw no reason to delay a dig at Twin Harbors.

So Twin Harbors is open tonight through Monday. Tides are as follows: Today, minus 0.3 feet at 7:13 p.m.; Friday, minus 0.5 feet at 7:57 p.m.; Saturday, minus 0.5 feet at 8:39 p.m.; Sunday, minus 0.3 feet at 9:21 p.m.; and Monday, 0.0 feet at 10.04 p.m.

Ayres said estimates of coastal razor clam populations indicate some 800,000 more clams available for harvest this year than last. And last year saw 420,000 digger trips harvesting 6.1 million clams, for an average of just under the per-person limit of 15 per day.

And if 2013 is going to be better than that, it’ll likely get wild down there in the dunes.

For more outdoor news, read Wayne Kruse’s blog at www.heraldnet.com/huntingandfishing.

Rain gardens at Tulalip admin building are decreasing pollution runoff

Admin building rain gardens, expect to see hundreds of blooms next spring.Photo by Monica Brown
Admin building rain gardens, expect to see hundreds of blooms next spring.
Photo by Monica Brown

By Monica Brown, Tulalip News writer

TULALIP, Wash. – The rain gardens at the Tulalip administration building have had a year to flourish, and flourish they have.  When you drive through the parking lot you see trees in the garden strips along with some shrubs, but towards the back you can see a spray of green areas that are roped off.  Some people are not aware that these roped off garden areas are not weeds, but are native vegetation and they were chosen specifically for their ability to remove pollutants.

“It’s a menagerie, but that’s how it was designed, to be low growing and provide a green landscape that would help filter out the pollutants,” said Derek Marks of Tulalip Natural Resources.

Last year, the Natural Resources department was able to take a few garden areas within the admin building parking lot and turn them into rain gardens. Shortly after it was completed it had been sprayed with herbicides, a major no-no when it comes to rain gardens. “You don’t build a rain garden to manage it with herbicides,” said Derek. “The rain garden themselves filter the pollutants; we’re not supposed to add pollutants to them.”

The gardens contain mainly different species of sedge, rush, woodrush and grass along with western buttercup, great camas and chocolate Lily. This last spring there weren’t many blooming camas or chocolate lily because the time between when they were planted and when they bloom in spring was too short for them to become established.

Chocolate lilyPhoto By Derek Marks
Chocolate lily
Photo By Derek Marks

“We’re expecting a lot more to bloom next spring. You’ll probably see several hundred camas plants out here blooming,” commented Derek, about the shortage of blooms this last spring.

Derek explains that, “the rain gardens are filter strips.” And, “the plants and microbes work hand in hand to break down the pollutants.” They remove toxins, oils and heavy metals that are in water runoff from the parking lot. Without the rain garden the pollutants in the water runoff would make their way out and contaminate the Puget Sound. The possibility of turning other garden strips within the parking area into more rain gardens has come up, but nothing has been decided on as of yet.

This pilot rain garden project was developed by Tulalip’s Natural Resources’, Valerie Streeter and Derek Marks. They caution that although some of these plants are known for being harvestable, these particular plants, and any that may reside in other rain gardens, are not harvestable because they are full of toxins.

Camas bloom Photo by Derek Marks
Camas bloom
Photo by Derek Marks

For those that would like to start their own rain garden, Washington State University and Stewardship Partners have begun a campaign to install 12,000 rain gardens in the Puget Sound area by the year 2016. The website for the campaign has videos to explain the whole process of putting in a rain garden and lists the many resources available to someone interested in installing one. Please visit 12000raingardens.org for more information about rain garden installation.

Tulalip is ready for VAWA

During a visit from White House officials, Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to President Obama, and Chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls, commended Tulalip for all of it’s efforts, both in criminal justice in general and specifically for playing such an impactful role bringing awareness to the plight of Native American women left out by original VAWA.
During a visit from White House officials, Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to President Obama, and Chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls, commended Tulalip for all of it’s efforts, both in criminal justice in general and specifically for playing such an impactful role bringing awareness to the plight of Native American women left out by original VAWA.
Photo/Brandi N. Montreuil

By Niki Cleary, Tulalip News

TULALIP, Wash., — “It’s not enough to cry peace, we have to act peace and we have to live peace,” Tulalip Tribal Court’s Chief Judge Theresa Pouley opened a September visit from White House officials with her teachings as a citizen of the Colville Confederated Tribes and as a tribal court judge.

She went on to explain that although talking and planning are necessary to ensure justice, walking the talk is crucial.

“Law and justice is made up of every arm of the tribe,” said Pouley. “Everyone meets once a month and we all pitch in to see what we can do to make the justice system better. A separation of powers doesn’t mean a separation of problems and certainly doesn’t mean a separation of solutions. One of the great things that Tulalip does is collaborate, out of the box, to provide services. That’s the core of the way justice gets done in Indian Country.”

That collaboration, she clarified, along with a history of providing due process beyond the requirements of the law, are just two of the reasons that Tulalip is ready to take over jurisdiction of all cases involving domestic violence. Until now, tribes have had no jurisdiction over domestic violence when one of the parties involved is not a tribal citizen.

“This is a historic moment,” said Pouley. “I want to marvel in the fact that for the first time, tribal courts are given authority over non-tribal [citizens]. We recognize that tribes are in the best position to do it [enforce the Violence Against Women Act], and we can do it better. We’re waiting to be a pilot. We’re ready to go and we can change the face of this community!”

The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was originally passed 19 years ago. The re-authorization of the act was delayed by a fight to include provisions protecting Native American women.

President Obama encapsulated the necessity for those provisions during a speech he made while signing the re-authorization.

“Indian Country has some of the highest rates of domestic abuse in America. And one of the reasons is that when Native American women are abused on tribal lands by an attacker who is not Native American, the attacker is immune from prosecution by tribal courts. Well, as soon as I sign this bill that ends.”

Tulalip’s Interim Chief of Police Carlos Echevarria reiterated the importance of tribes having jurisdiction over all domestic violence cases.

“We see up to 75,000 visitors daily,” he pointed out. “We have 13,000 non-member residents, a lot of traffic and a lot of guests. I can’t tell you how frustrating it’s been arresting non-Indians for domestic crimes against members and knowing that nothing was likely to be done.”

Tulalip Vice-Chairwoman Deborah Parker, who has become known nationally as the face of Native women affected by VAWA, put it in even plainer words.

“We shouldn’t have to walk in fear that we’re going to be raped or abused at any age, from infants to our elders. We get these calls daily. Pretty soon, with your help, this will change.”

Although pleased with this expansion of tribal jurisdiction, Echevarria said it can’t be the last step in recognizing tribes rights to police their lands.

“This is a significant achievement to all tribes and another step in creating a safer community,” he said. “We’ll now move on to the next step, full criminal jurisdiction and a reversal of the Oliphant decision.”

Although no decisions or formal announcements came from the day-long tour, Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to President Obama, and Chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls commended Tulalip for all of it’s efforts, both in criminal justice in general and specifically for playing such an impactful role bringing awareness to the plight of Native American women left out by original VAWA. She made a point of thanking Vice-Chairwoman Parker for being willing to relive her painful past, ‘not just one time, but over and over and over again,’ in order to ensure that Native women are protected in the future.

“It’s an exciting time to be here,” said Jarrett. “As we heard from Chief Justice Pouley, you are ready. Now it’s up to our team to step up to the plate.”

Cabela’s to host Waterfowl Classic

Source: The Marysville Globe

fowl Classic is set to be celebrated at the hunting, fishing and outdoor gear retailer’s Tulalip location on Sept. 14-15.

The store will feature sales, guest appearances, seminars, family activities and more, on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Activities and seminars taking place on Sept. 14 include topics such as choosing the right waterfowl camouflage, the science of duck and goose calling with Zink Calls’ Pro Staff Chad Nelson, proper decoy placement in variable terrain, goose and duck sausage and jerky secrets, kids duck calling contest and camouflage face painting challenge and duck blind breakfast ideas. Attendees have the opportunity to participate in a meet and greet with local conservation partners.

On Sunday, the store will host the following seminars — Waterfowl University, Waterfowl Shooting Essentials, After the Shot: Processing the Bird,  Rigging Your Decoys for Success and more.

More information about Cabela’s Waterfowl Classic sales and weekend activities can be found online at www.cabelas.com/tulalip.

Walking to remember, walking to raise awareness

World Suicide Prevention Day sparks community action

Family and friends in the Tulalip community join together to walk in remembrance of loved ones lost to suicide.
Family and friends in the Tulalip community join together to walk in remembrance of loved ones lost to suicide. Photo/Andrew Gobin

By Andrew Gobin, Tulalip News

Tulalip − “People came together to make this happen,” said Rochelle Lubbers who organized a community suicide prevention walk Tuesday, September 10th, in honor of World Suicide Prevention Day. “More than 150 people participated in Tuesday’s event,” she continued, “which was surprising, yet inspiring.”

Families wore the colors of World Suicide Prevention Day, some personalized with photos and names of people they have lost to suicide. Many also made signs in memory of loved ones that were victims of suicide.

The walk began near the Tulalip Health Clinic, and stretched half way around the bay, ending at the tribal center with a candlelight vigil and potluck.

The event was entirely community driven. The food served was brought by participants, the ribbons and craft supplies were donated by Michael’s, and Wal-Mart and Safeway each donated $25 worth of goods to the event.

Supported by friends and family, Rose Iukes walks in memory of her daughter, Lateesha Jack. Photo/Andrew Gobin
Supported by friends and family, Rose Iukes walks in memory of her daughter, Lateesha Jack. Photo/Andrew Gobin

World Suicide Prevention Day is held on September 10th every year, and though this is Tulalip’s first year participating, it began ten years ago.

In Indian country, native male suicide rates are 10 times the national rate, with some reservations considerably higher. For native females, the rates are 13-17 times the national average. Indian Health Service and Health Human Services record dangerously high numbers among native youth as well.

Lubbers said, “I just wanted to raise awareness about the issue. Even when it happens here, it seems that people talk about the person, which is good, but we never seem to address the issue. I think if more people were aware of the issue, more could be done to stop it.”

Sherry Dick joins the walk in honor of her brother.
Sherry Dick joins the walk in honor of her brother.

Area students named to Dean’s List at U.W.

 

Source: The Marysville Globe

Students from the Marysville/Tulalip area have been named to the Dean’s List at the University of Washington for Spring 2013 Quarter.

To qualify for the Dean’s List, a student must have completed at least 12 graded credits and have a grade point average of at least 3.50 (out of 4). Students are notified that they have achieved this distinction when they receive their grades for the quarter.

The students are listed alphabetically by hometown.

Marysville

Vicente Aberion, junior

Dominic Alhambra, freshman

Angela Ament, senior

Jake Blackman, sophomore

Blaine Bowman, senior

Casey Brown, senior

Stephen Calkins, freshman

Courtney Coombs, junior

Kyle Daggett, junior

Thomas Esser, senior

Mathew Featherstone, junior

Katelyn Frazier, senior

Claudia Furmanczyk, junior

Gabriel Gribler, senior

Alyssa Grisham, sophomore

Jade Hanson, senior

Nicholas Harris, sophomore

Reed Headrick, sophomore

Brian Hecox, senior

Samuel Hipp, senior

Tara Howes, senior

Eric Huswick, senior

Sam Josephsen, junior

Mikko Juan, sophomore

Emily Krueger, junior

Mikaela Lance, junior

Alicia Malavolti, senior

Aleksandr Melnik, senior

Taylor Olsen, senior

Gerard Pascual, sophomore

Cierra Purdom, sophomore

Joshua Rasmussen, senior

Brian Ronk, senior

Andy Sandhu, senior

Tyler Smith, senior

Zachary Smith, junior

Minh Ta, sophomore

Riley Taitingfong, senior

Ashley Tande, freshman

Nina Tran, junior

Alex Troupe, junior

Lakrista Vantrece, sophomore

Kate Vavrousek, junior

Hailey Zurcher, junior

Tulalip

Amanda Koerber, senior

Nicholas Marshall, junior

Sammy Hagar donates to Tulalip food bank

Sammy Hagar with Tulalip tribal member, Marilyn Sheldon (left) and friends.
Sammy Hagar with Tulalip tribal member Marilyn Sheldon (left) and friends.

Kim Kalliber, Tulalip News

Sammy Hagar performed before a packed house at the Tulalip Resort Casino Amphitheatre on August 15th, for his 40 Years of Rock tour.  Along with the high-energy rock n’ roll Sammy is famous for, what make the Red Rocker’s performances even more memorable are the donations he makes to local food banks in each community he visits. As part of this ongoing support of local food banks, Sammy chose to donate $2,500 towards the Tulalip Food Bank.

“Food banks in your local community are the biggest bang for your buck in my search for the simplest and most reliable way to help others,” Hagar said in a recent Billboard article. “You see the clientele lined up and they need it. You don’t see people taking advantage of something.”
A multi-platinum, outgoing, bombastic front man of hard rock champions Van Halen, Hagar is a member in good standing of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He will be releasing his first solo album in five years on September 24, 2013.  Hagar has enlisted three legendary musicians – Toby Keith, Mickey Hart and Taj Mahal – to round out the final three tracks of the album to be titled: “Sammy Hagar and Friends.”

If you are interested in donating to the food bank, you can reach the Tulalip Food Bank at 425.512.6435 or 1330 Marine Ave NE, Tulalip, WA 98271.

A united front: CEDAR group strives for community wellbeing

By Andrew Gobin, Tulalip News

Tulalip − The CEDAR group meeting September 5th took an interesting turn as strong emotions flowed during a spontaneous open forum. The scheduled presenters had to cancel at the last minute, leaving Thursday’s meeting without an agenda. Reading off facts about youth drug use and how people can help themselves or their kids sparked a discussion on the various situations Tulalip families and addicts find themselves in and how these situations can be handled.

Gina Skinner, who works with the suboxin program, said, “You don’t have to be an addict to seek help. You as the parent, as the family, can come and seek counsel.”

Jim Hillaire spoke, saying, “I wish that more people would engage more with what we [Family Services] have to offer. It’s not that we don’t do enough, or can’t do enough; it’s that they [the families of addicts] don’t want to be there.

“Its not up to the board of directors to fix this,” he continued, “it’s up to all of us.”

That’s what CEDAR is about. Community Engaged and Dedicated to Addiction Recovery.

“The CEDAR program is intended to develop community volunteer involvement,” said Lisa Kibbie, one of the group’s coordinators.

The stigma attached to addiction is so condemning and poisonous that addicts don’t want to face their families, or can’t face their families. A 15 year old, who shall remain anonymous, stated that even after being clean and sober for 5 months now, all people first see in them is addiction and failure.

“Shame and guilt was never part of our culture,” responded Hillaire.

The mission of the CEDAR group is to promote a healthy and culturally vibrant community. Hillaire pointed to culture many times during the meeting, speaking to where we’ve drifted in recent years and where solutions can be found. By continuing to bring cultural teachings and values forward Tulalip can stand together as a community and uplift its people.

“We have to develop a culture within the community that won’t enable [tolerate or facilitate] those that choose to leave their home and family,” Skinner said.

The group consensus is that change is necessary in the community. That may mean creating boundaries to alleviate the enabling that takes place in our community. That also means that we all must be willing to put in the hard work, making hard decisions, holding to them, while still letting people know they are welcome, and that their wellbeing is important to others.

At the end of the meeting, volunteers could list themselves as a contact for community outreach and crisis assistance, a first step in getting the community involved.

The CEDAR group meets every other Thursday, 5pm-7pm at the Tulalip Administration building, room 162.